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So President Barack Obama is back in the White House, and it is time to get back to work. But the US vote for continuity will not prompt much celebration in the Iranian corridors of power. Several hours after the result was in, the Iranian state news agency Irna made no mention of US politics, although it did post a story saying the prevailing world system “is already meeting its doomed end”.

Confronted yet again by damaging rumours, Saudi sources moved quickly to quash a 10 February report that King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz was seriously ill or was dead, apparently having suffered a heart attack after a heated telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama.

Egypt’s role in the alliance gathered behind Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s efforts to crush the Houthi rebellion suggests the ‘sleeping giant’ of Middle East politics has not entirely withdrawn from its central role in regional diplomacy. Cairo still plays an important part in mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, most recently in trying to heal the fratricidal rift between Fatah and Hamas. But otherwise, Egypt under 81-year-old President Hosni Mubarak seems to have long parted from its Nasserite status as a critical hub for Arab political and cultural thought and action.

The Bahrain government appears unwavering in its determination to crush what is left of the country’s peaceful opposition movement. The arrest on 13 June of Bahrain Commission for Human Rights president Nabeel Rajab and, a day later, the closure of the main opposition party, Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has been followed by a decision announced on 20 June to strip prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim of his citizenship. Since then, Rajab was hospitalised with an irregular heartbeat, supporters reported on 28 June, while Al-Wefaq’s lawyers complained of administrative blockages as they sought to prepare their case.

A 4 November announcement by the state Bahrain News Agency (BNA) has thrown into doubt the kingdom’s continued acceptance of its boundaries with Qatar. The neighbour’s long-standing territorial dispute that had marred their mutual relations for much of the 20th century had seemingly been resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in March 2001. Its ruling divided disputed territories between the two countries – awarding the Hawar Islands to Bahrain, while Qatar got the neighbouring Janan Island and the fort and ruined town of Zubara – and set out a maritime boundary.

Qatar has at last announced plans for elections in 2013, nine years after a new constitution granted legislative powers to a semi-elected Majlis Al-Shura (Consultative Council). Under the 2003 constitution, 30 of the Shura’s 45 members will be elected for four-year terms; they will have the right to propose laws, approve the state budget and question the prime minister and ministers.

Gulf States Newsletter has launched a new website which we hope will enhance subscribers’ use of GSN and its associated resources. The Twittersphere and other, even less benign environments may speculate on GSN’s ownership – hardly surprising as so many media outlets show little or no sign of having either subscription revenue or advertising income.

A series of talks between Iranian and GCC officials have been held during December and early January in Gulf capitals, as well as on the sidelines of events in Jordan and Brazil, in moves that suggest Tehran is recalibrating its relations with neighbouring monarchies during a period of intense domestic tensions.

The overwhelming might of Iran’s internal security apparatus has ruthlessly suppressed the demonstrations which broke out in September 2022, following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The regime has dug in at home and abroad to protect the system of clerical rule, with hardliners as dominant as ever. But the protests have continued despite this onslaught and the regime’s critics have found new ways to express their discontent, from widespread strikes (including in the Tehran bazaar, a bastion of the 1979 revolution), to cyberattacks on state banks and other institutions.

A year on from the Al-Ula agreement that ended the boycott of Qatar by three of its Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) neighbours – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – Qatar is enjoying a fresh period of political calm. Indeed, in many ways it now looks to be in a better place than most of its erstwhile foes in the GCC.

Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) announced a reshuffle of the federal cabinet on 25 September, alongside what he termed “a new government strategic approach that will lay the foundations of work for the next 50 years”.

Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said was unusually active in late May, making trips to Cairo and Tehran in quick succession, just as Egypt and Iran were edging towards a diplomatic rapprochement. Recent reports also suggest Oman may once again be acting as a mediator between Washington and Tehran.